by Guest Author, Miles Oliver
The nationwide job market has remained resilient in the face of global conflict and uncertain times. Unemployment is currently at 3.8%, wage growth is stable, and the workforce is growing thanks to an influx in immigration.
However, falling unemployment does mean that you may find it harder to make your next career move. This can be frustrating if you’re looking to make a switch or are experiencing uncertainty in your professional life.
Rather than waiting for a perfect opportunity to arise, start making moves to set yourself up for success. This can help you build a career plan that supports your long-term professional growth and helps you find opportunities in emerging industries that desperately need new employees.
Career Planning
Planning your career is crucial if you want to move up the salary bands and increase your professional responsibilities. However, crafting a relevant career plan can be tricky in times like these, as industries around the world are rapidly changing due to AI and global conflict. Rather than waiting to see what the future holds, begin making a speculative career plan by:
- Setting Goals: Do you want to earn a certain salary or achieve a professional award? Is there a rank you’re aiming for or a list of responsibilities you’d like to cover?
- Self-Assess: What skills and experience do you have currently? Where do you hope to head in the coming years? What weaknesses do you need to firm up?
- Network: What steps do you take to network yourself and expand your professional circle?
- Personal Branding: Consider reviewing and revising your resume, portfolio, and cover letters. Ensure they reflect your current skills and are relevant to any roles you are applying for.
- Vision: Imagine what your career will look like in a decade. Will you enjoy managing people? Do you hope to lead large projects? Is there some other professional milestone you hope to hit?
Answering these questions can refocus your efforts and help you get more from your career. Just be sure to collaborate with trusted peers when considering career moves, as experienced friends and trusted mentors can help you better understand your strengths and weaknesses. Creating a career plan can give you vision and improve your resiliency when going through applications and interviews.
Resiliency
Resilience is one of the most important personality traits you can adopt as a professional. Being able to learn from mistakes and bounce back after rejection puts you on a path to succeed in the years to come and will ensure that you’re always able to glean valuable lessons from setbacks.
If you find that you struggle to respond well to critique and challenges, consider engaging in more self-care. Techniques like positive self-talk can raise your self-esteem and help you become more resilient. You’re far more likely to take setbacks in your stride when you feel good about yourself and will find it easier to filter out unhelpful comments when you’re confident.
You can further improve your resilience by seeking out opportunities for professional development. This will enhance your skill set, give you invaluable experience, and help expand your network. Seeking out professional development will help you learn how to better leverage your skills, too, as you’ll have a wider set of tools to draw from.
Leveraging Your Skills
Learning how to leverage your skills is crucial when seeking out new opportunities. Recruiters are usually speed-reading resumes and cover letters, meaning you must make it clear that you have the skills they are looking for. You can learn to leverage transferable skills successfully in your career search by:
- Including language that you find within job descriptions;
- Demonstrate your transferable skills by highlighting examples;
- Mention skills picked up while playing sports, volunteering, or within academia.
Using your transferable skills tactfully can make a world of difference if you have an interesting CV, but are struggling to land opportunities. Using language that managers understand ensures that your experience is taken seriously and that you’re in a prime position to receive an invitation to interview. When you do land an interview, be sure to practice talking about transferable skills before the big day arrives.
You can also use temporary work to bolster your skillset. In addition to giving you heightened flexibility and autonomy, temp work ensures that you’re constantly learning new skills and refining your knowledge. Working on a temporary basis can broaden your network and help you land lucrative gigs in the future. If you do decide to engage in temporary work, just be sure to keep track of your core responsibilities and achievements so you can highlight the impact you had in a short period of time.
Conclusion
Making career transitions during times of uncertainty can be frustrating. You’re sure to encounter plenty of setbacks and should be prepared to receive more rejections than success letters. Navigate the transition with grace and resiliency by investing in yourself and learning to leverage your skills. This will help you stick with a career plan that works and will ensure that you’re able to embrace new opportunities as they arise.
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About the author: Miles Oliver is a freelance contributor whose writing focuses on professional development. You can reach him at moliverpages@gmail.com.
